Once Upon Another Time
by Ava Miranda Dakedavra
Summary: Hermione Granger's best friends are Fred and George Weasley, two boys in her year and in her Hogwarts House. You wouldn't think they'd be friends, not the bookworm and the two pranksters, but hey - when you're friends with Fred and George, you start believing that anything can happen if you've got enough nerve.
1. Contrariwise

**Hello, this is AU! Please be patient, I'll try to put as much detail into the story. If I fail to do so and you still have a question, please feel free to ask away! And a 'welcome' to the new readers! And a 'hi guys' to the veterans! **

_Song of the (up)Date: "White Rabbit" by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals_

* * *

Hermione Granger had never had any business inside of King's Cross. Sure, she'd gone to say goodbye to visiting family or friends of her parents, but that was usually for a few minutes before she went back home. She'd never had to get on a train by herself, and certainly not for school. Of course, this goes without saying that she'd never had to find the platform itself, or find somebody who wouldn't look at her strangely for asking where Platform 9 and ¾ was.

Hermione Jean Granger had gotten a letter from an owl, if you could believe such a thing, and had promptly been visited by a woman with billowing robes and spectacles. She'd been told she was a witch, and with a great deal of kind arguing from the woman, she finally believed it. She'd gone and gotten her wand, schoolbooks and school robes, but she had no idea how to find the train, let alone the Platform.

Her parents were dentists and had both been scheduled for appointments shortly after they were supposed to drop Hermione off, as they thought they'd be able to find the train quick and easy. They'd winced at the idea of leaving Hermione alone at a train station, where many strange people could've kidnapped her, but Hermione promised that she'd be alright and would've screamed as loud as she could if anybody tried to attack her. Her mother had given her a kiss on her head and told her to call if she couldn't find the train, giving her enough money for the payphone if she needed it. She promised she'd write as soon as she found time at Hogwarts, assuring them that she was alright.

So Hermione wheeled her cart around the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10 exactly fifteen times before a redheaded family came up, the mother fussing over two identical boys, the older straightening his tie as a younger boy and girl looked sullenly at the twins.

"Now Fred, George, I don't want to hear of any mischief from McGonagall about you two," she said sternly, hands on her hips. Hermione lifted her head and blinked at the woman, as the lady who had told her she was a witch had been named McGonagall.

One began a sentence, "Aww, Mum, if we can't have any mischief then – "

" – we can't have any fun," the other finished before blinking suddenly at Hermione, looking at her and her cart curiously, making her face flush as she fought the urge to avert her gaze as she began to make her way around the barrier for the sixteenth time. Just as she was about to start on the seventeenth time, the boys were in front of her and looking at her curiously, making her jump with a start and her eyes grow wide. They stared at on another for quite some time before the one on the right spoke.

"You know, we're alive and all, not just something pretty to look at," he grinned. She blinked, as this suddenly all reminded her of when Alice met Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum in _Through the Looking-Glass_, and she might've furrowed her brows and muttered 'tweedle' under her breath, as the one on the left smiled.

"Contrariwise," he grinned, "If you think we're alive, you ought to speak."

This startled her even more, as she'd never met anyone her own age who had read that book and liked it enough to remember anything from it.

"Maybe she's the wax-work, brother," the one on the right whispered loudly to his twin.

"Am not," she pouted, crossing her arms over her chest, "I just…uhm…." She fiddled with her fingers, biting her lip and wondering whether or not it was safe to ask them how to get to Platform 9 and ¾.

The boys arched their eyebrows at her, in sync, and looked at her curiously. They had loud, bright red hair and bright blue eyes, freckles across their pale faces. She couldn't tell one from the other. She self-consciously smoothed down a bit of her bushy brown hair, wondering what they must be thinking of her.

"Do you – I mean, do you know of…" she trailed off again, biting harder on her lip, even though her mother had told her many times not to do so.

The one on the left dropped the eyebrow back into place and smiled, "Do you need help finding Platform 9 and ¾?"

She let out a sigh and smiled, nodding.

"You just go through the barrier you've been circling twenty times," the one on the right helped.

"Through it?" she blinked, looking curiously at the brick wall. "And I've only been around it sixteen times."

"Yeah, through it," the one on the left said before suddenly getting an idea, "Hey, we can shove Percy through it to show her!"

"And if they've moved the gate, he'll just ram into the wall!" the one on the right said happily before they ran off back to their mother, brothers and sister. They began speaking and waving their arms wildly to the older brother, making him look at them without an idea on what they were saying, when their mother stepped in and found out. She smiled and led the two younger children by their hands, the twins rushing back towards Hermione with grins on their faces.

"Are you new to Hogwarts?" the woman asked kindly, although she already must've known this to be so.

"Yes, ma'am," she answered.

"Then it's perfectly alright not to know where to go," she said before offering her hand to shake, "I'm Molly Weasley."

"I'm Hermione Granger," she smiled lightly, feeling at ease with this family.

Molly glanced over at the twins, who suddenly remembered that they hadn't introduced themselves.

"I'm Fred, he's George," one said, as they had probably rearranged themselves when they'd left her, grinning at her brightly.

"Percy Weasley," the oldest said before he went calmly through the wall, making Hermione gape back at him. Molly chuckled at her reaction, looking to the younger boy and girl to let them introduce themselves.

"I'm Ginny," the girl spoke up, smiling happily up at her, "This is Ron. He's grumpy that he can't go to Hogwarts for two more years."

"Oh, well I can understand," Hermione nodded, "It must be fun, from what I've heard."

"I bet it is," Ron said grouchily, Molly frowning disapprovingly at him.

"You ready to go in?" Fred asked her, "The train is getting ready to leave. I think. Don't really know until we go."

"Umm," she faltered, but Fred and George grinned at her reassuringly, and she nodded and warily pushed her cart in ahead of her before following. Soon enough, she was gaping at the scarlet train and blinking at it, wondering why nobody had told her about this.

"C'mon," one twin said, as she couldn't be sure which was which again, "You can sit with us!"

* * *

Hermione sat on the stool, fiddling with her fingers and biting her lip as the Sorting Hat was placed on her head. It hummed and muttered that she was smart, and caring, and even a little bit cunning, and then it was silent for a few long moments, which scared her even more than when it had begun talking. It finally bellowed out something – she didn't know what, it had startled her too much – and the Hat was taken off of her head and she looked curiously up at McGonagall, who looked very proud and nodded her to the red and gold table, which was clapping the loudest.

She sat down at a close empty seat, smiling at whoever congratulated her and looked around rather frightfully as they turned their attention back on the sorting. She never was good with making friends, people always calling her mean names or finding something to pick at her for, so she'd never really perfected her social skills. She clapped politely though as another boy was sorted into Gryffindor – apparently, her House – and sat down across from her, beaming brightly before offering his hand to shake.

"Hi – I'm Lee Jordan," he said as she smiled gratefully at him.

"Hermione Granger," she said, taking her hand back as he looked a little lost as well. "Are you glad to be here?"

He grinned, "Yeah, it's great, I've already got a few pranks planned."

"Pranks?" she asked, blinking at him in astonishment as he only grinned wider.

"Yeah, pranks," he said eagerly, "D'you want to help me?"

"Well, I – " she was quickly cut off as somebody else was Sorted, clapping as she looked around, a little lost as they had now jumped to the 'L's. Lee didn't ask her again, giving her plenty of time to think about whether she wanted to stick by her parents' definition of a 'good girl,' or maybe rewrite their dictionary a bit to have some fun. Fred and George were Sorted into her House as well, Fred sitting down next to her and George sitting across from him and by Lee, smiling happily at her as Dumbledore began to talk.

Once he'd gone over the rules, the restrictions on the Forbidden Forest, and other such things, they were allowed to eat. This prompted Lee to ask her again, to which Fred and George seemed to brighten and agree to help him. They all turned to Hermione, who thought about it for another moment before smiling.

"I'll help in a _few_," she decided, which the boys took as a complete and utter 'yes.'


	2. That's Logic

_Song of the (up)Date: "Braille" by Regina Spektor_

* * *

"Are you alright?" he asked, startling her into a sitting position, looking up at him with big brown eyes before shifting a forced grin into place.

"Yeah, fine," she lied, although she could tell by his face that he didn't buy it. They'd known each other for quite a few months, and had been rather friendly, although it was still strange to either of them – George and Lee included – to have a friend who was the opposite gender as them. It wasn't that they didn't like each other, it was just _strange_, because the boys didn't know what girls liked to do and Hermione didn't know exactly what to do around people. It was easy enough, though, and it was alright.

Fred pulled up the chair opposite her and sat down, looking at her very seriously for a few moments before she sighed and slumped down in her own chair, pouting a little as he looked at her worriedly.

"These two girls in my dorm, Alicia and Angelina," she began, tugging on a strand of her hair, "They make fun of my hair and how I like to read. And they only do it when that other girl, Katie, isn't there."

Fred leaned towards her and looked at her worriedly, "D'you want me to do something?"

"No, it'll probably just make matters worse," she admitted, biting her lip before smiling, "But thank you for listening."

He nodded and smiled as she stood and left, making him frown and think before he sat up with a grin and dashed out of the library.

* * *

Katie Bell had short black hair, which was usually with messy layers that she never bothered to comb, and Fred found that she was just a little taller than Hermione, but not by much. He never really talked to her in their short time at Hogwarts, but he found her to be okay, noticing that she and Hermione were civil to each other.

"Oh, hi," she smiled up at him as George looked at his twin curiously, "You're Fred and George, right?"

"Yeah," George answered, still wondering why they were talking to her, exactly, and why they weren't trying to beat Lee at Exploding Snap.

"Hey, listen, I was wondering if you could do a favor for me," Fred muttered to her, shoving his hands in his pockets as Katie's eyebrows rose and she pursed her lips.

"Depends," she said, although the corner of her mouth was twitching.

He grinned, knowing she was going to agree any way, "Brilliant." George looked on at them, lost until Fred began to explain things to Katie as well as him. By the time he was done, George was just about as livid as Katie, nearly following her as she marched up the girls' staircase until he remembered that he physically couldn't.

* * *

Christmas had soon come around, and it seemed as though everybody was going home – at least, everybody that mattered to the twins. So, Hermione, Lee and Katie, who had become a fast friend to Hermione, and therefore the three boys, after she'd made sure Hermione wasn't left alone with Angelina and Alicia. Of course, there'd been one time when she had been, but it'd quickly been settled with Hermione standing up for herself, ending up fuming in McGonagall's office. But that's another story.

They couldn't really come up with anything to get their new friends for Christmas. The Weasleys weren't particularly wealthy, so actually _buying_ gifts was kind of out of the question. So that's why Charlie, one of their older brothers, walked into their room and blinked when he saw them flopped over the sides of their beds, facing each other and staring at one another very seriously.

"Umm…?" he ventured.

"We've got three friends, two of which are girls, and we're trying to figure out what to get them for Christmas," George answered.

"Girls?" Charlie asked with a small grin.

"Yeah," Fred answered, completely innocent with the fact that, after they would hit puberty, being friends with girls would cause a bit of trouble outside of their circle. But, for now, the twins were innocent in any assumptions made between them and their female friends.

"Well," Charlie thought for a few moments, leaning against the doorframe with his hands in his pockets, "You could make something for them."

Fred and George shared doubtful glances at each other across the space.

"Or," he said, seeing their expressions, "You could ask Mum to make them jumpers."

They thought about it silently before jumping up and running past him, shouting out simultaneous "Thanks, Charlie!"s.

* * *

"Hermione, who're those from?" Hermione's mother asked, somewhat sleepily, nursing a cup of coffee.

"Umm," Hermione said, quite uncertain about the three packages that had come along with the one from her parents, "I suppose they're from my friends."

Her mother nearly spat out her coffee, beaming at her happily, "You've made friends?"

"Yes," she said, smiling at Katie's letter that had accompanied the gift.

"Well, who are they?" she prodded warmly.

"Well, Katie, she's the most recent, and she's in my dorms," Hermione began, running her hands over the soft covering of the journal that she'd gotten her. "And Lee, who I met after I first got Sorted, and Fred and George – they're twins – helped me find the platform."

She blinked, "You're friends with two boys?"

"Three, actually," she corrected, "Lee."

"Ah," she nodded with a smile, "Are they nice?"

"Uh-huh," she said distractedly, as she was grinning at the candy that Lee had gotten her, although they looked like quills, so her parents wouldn't notice.

"Got a crush on any of them yet?" she teased good-naturedly.

"Huh?" she jerked her head up, her eyebrows furrowing, "Why would I want to go and do that?"

She chuckled, "I dunno. I guess that was just silly of me to think, hm?"

She grinned back before arching an eyebrow, "D'you think Dad drowned himself while brushing his teeth?"

"It's a complete possibility," she joked as she stood, "I'll go check on him – don't open ours until we get back!"

"Can I open Fred and George's?" she called as she began to walk down the hall.

"Sure!" she called back.

Hermione smiled and ripped open the packaging, blinking at the note that said "_Read first!_" on the front. She did as she was asked, smiling a little as she easily noticed it was Fred's messy handwriting.

_Hermione, _

_We have a tradition. Every year at Christmas, our Mum makes us 'Weasley jumpers.' Considering that there's Bill, Charlie, Percy, us, Ron and Ginny to make jumpers for, we almost had to go to Plan B (which we hadn't thought of) in the case that she'd find an extra (well, extra **three** – Lee and Katie as well) too much. Her exact words were "if there's anybody who can stick with you two long enough to be deemed friends, they've earned a jumper." _

_So, Happy Christmas from the Weasleys! (But mostly from Fred and George.)_

Hermione couldn't help but beam as she took the dark blue jumper in her hands, finding a silver 'H' in the middle.

* * *

"Oy, we actually get separate presents this year," George joked, handing Fred the ones that had been labeled his as he sleepily rubbed an eye.

Fred managed a smile through his sleeplessness, watching as the rest of his family began to tear into their presents, even watching as George lit up with his new jumper, shrugging it on before pecking their mum on the cheek. He absentmindedly ripped open the first present, blinking bewilderedly before it finally dawned on him, making him begin to laugh and attract the attention of his family.

Hermione had gotten him Lewis Carroll's _Through the Looking-Glass_ and had written inside the front cover:

_Fred,_

_Contrariwise, if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic._

_Which is a Hermione-ish way of saying "Happy Christmas."_

_Love,_

_Hermione_.

* * *

**I don't really have much planned before Harry comes in…so this was all improv.**


	3. A Summer Invitation

**Vanilla Chai Tea is amazing and I pity people who won't give it a chance.**

_Song of the (up)Date: "She's So Mean" by Matchbox 20_

* * *

Hermione didn't even jump as two redheads leaned over her shoulders as she read in the chair by the window, calmly saving her spot and setting it down her lap. "What is it today?"

Fred and George catapulted themselves into the seats across from her, beaming.

"Are you doing anything this summer?" George asked.

Hermione sighed, slumping into her seat, as her first year at Hogwarts was drawing to a close and soon she'd have to go back to being all Muggle-ish, and the thought was killing her. "No."

"Yes, you are," Fred corrected, making her arch an eyebrow at him, "We wrote Mum and Dad – "

"- Who wrote your mum and dad - " George cut him off.

" - Who said it'd be alright with them if you spent the last month of summer holiday at the Burrow!" Fred beamed at her as she blinked at them.

"What's a Burrow?" she questioned.

"Oh, right, it's what we call our house," George grinned, "Our uncles, Fabian and Gideon, called it that before we were born and it stuck."

"And I can come?" Hermione asked excitedly.

The two boys nodded as she beamed and hugged them tightly.

* * *

**Like I said – all improv.**


	4. Never Asked

_Song of the (up)Date: Genius Next Door by Regina Spektor_

* * *

"Is this the right place?"

"Yeah, positive – that's what she wrote down, see?"

"Did you imagine it'd be…smaller?"

"Oh, you too?"

George nodded, staring at the particularly large house that supposedly belonged to their friend. Molly had allowed the boys to go get Hermione on the Knight Bus, as she was busy cleaning the house and trying to keep the other kids from making a mess. Fred had given the driver the address before he and George hung on for dear life, all the while the shrunken head singing something about coconuts in a jovial tone. The twins had hopped off and decided to delay their next trip on the bus as much as possible. This included staring at the house and wondering what else Hermione hadn't told them.

"Well," George began, "We better see if it is hers."

Fred followed him up to the front porch, looking up when he heard somebody playing the piano overhead. He stepped back as he let George knock on the door, looking to the open window and smiling a little when he saw Hermione, her head bent in focus as she mouthed the words to the song.

"You must be Fred and George," somebody said, making Fred look and blink at the woman, who had dirty blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, giving the two a warm smile. "I'm Hermione's mum, Catherine."

"Hi," George smiled back as Fred stepped up next to him, "I'm George, he's Fred. Is Hermione ready?"

Catherine smiled, "She's been ready for weeks. I'll go get her." She disappeared through the house, returning back in a few minutes with Hermione, who was smiling brightly at the two.

"Hey," Fred smiled, "Ready to go?"

"Yup!" Hermione smiled, whirling around to hug her mother.

"We'll be there at the station with your Hogwarts trunk, alright?"

"Alright," Hermione agreed, pecking her mother on the cheek and slinging a backpack onto her shoulder, "Bye Mum, love you."

"Love you too, Darling," she said, smoothing her hair as Hermione waited patiently to be let go. "I'll tell your father you said good-bye."

"Alright," she nodded, turning back to Fred and George and stepping off the step, "Ready?"

"Yeah," George agreed.

"Bye Missus Granger – thanks for letting us kidnap her! Oh – I mean – borrow her!" Fred waved as they started down the sidewalk, making Hermione punch him in the shoulder and frown as Catherine laughed.

"Anytime, boys!" she waved before shutting the door.

"So, how are we getting there?" Hermione questioned.

"The Knight Bus," they answered together.

Hermione quirked an interested eyebrow, "What's that?"

"It's Wizarding transportation," Fred answered this time, "You just stick out your wand hand and – "

"Pray for your life," George said dully as he stuck out his hand, lurching back when the purple bus pitched into view. Hermione jumped back as well, blinking at it as its doors opened and a pimpled boy not all that much older than them stepped through.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. My name is Stan Shunpike and I will be your conductor this evening – wait a mo'," he stopped himself, peering at the twins, "Iddn't we jus' drop 'oo lo' off?"

"We told you," Fred said with a frown, "We were picking her up and we'd be right back."

George continued, "And I said it'd be rather nice if you waited but – "

"We can see that you didn't," Fred huffed.

"Oh, right," Stan sniffed, scratching his chin, "Oops. Well then, you know the fare then."

George rolled his eyes and pushed Hermione up the steps as Fred paid him, following them in and sharing a look with George. Fred's eyes widened as he heard the shrunken head saying "Take it away, Ernie!"

"Hold on!" Fred said, reaching for a pole to grab onto, but finding himself too late and slung into his brother and friend, making Hermione squeak as the two boys fell on her. She sat up and blinked when she saw how fast it was going, pitching and lurching and hopping all over the road, in between cars and down small alleys.

"I love magic," she found herself saying, grabbing onto a pole to hoist herself up. Fred grabbed an armchair and hopped in, grabbing George's shirt collar and helping him up.

"How old are you again?" Stan asked, acting natural as the bus whirled the passengers around.

"Twelve," the twins answered.

"Turning thirteen in September," Hermione said instead, making them look over at her.

"Yeesh," Fred winced at himself, a hand running through his hair, "We forgot that we didn't know your birthday."

"When is it?" George questioned.

"September nineteenth," she smiled, shifting her backpack.

"We knew you then!" Fred glared at her, "Why didn't you tell us your birthday?"

She shrugged and gave a cheeky grin, "You never asked."

* * *

**I'll write more later. I feel like I should probably update Headaches.**


	5. A New Friend

**The thing with Hermione's birthday is that she's older than a lot of people in her year, in this story and in the actual books. If she was born before September 1st, she would've been a year ahead of Harry and Ron. Make sense?**

* * *

Hermione blinked up at the house, tilting her head at every turn it seemed to make. It was certainly different than any house she had ever seen before. It seemed rather large, although it was hard to tell for sure, as it was built very oddly. She found herself grinning as the twins came up behind her after they got off the bus.

"It's not much," Fred admitted, somewhat meekly, "But it's home."

"I love it," she grinned at him, making him blink and smile too. They led her inside, where Molly greeted them and hugged Hermione, glad to see that she'd survived a year with the twins. Hermione had laughed and she'd been introduced to Bill and Charlie, who seemed nice enough to her but enjoyed poking fun at their younger brothers. Percy had nodded politely to her and welcomed her before Bill and Charlie ruffled up his hair, making him complain loudly and walk up the stairs. Ginny skipped down the stairs and smiled up at her, asking her if she'd like to play with her sometime. Hermione had smiled and nodded and said that she would, which made Ginny beam and hug her around the middle before skipping off.

Arthur came down the stairs and blinking at her before grinning, shaking her hand, "Ahh, you must be Hermione! We've heard so much about you."

"Dad," Fred and George whined, Ginny slung onto George's back and watching on.

"I hear you're Muggleborn, correct?" he asked, making Hermione nod. "Excellent, I love Muggles! Tell me – what is the purpose of a rubber duck?"

"Uhm," Hermione began, looking at him a little strangely before Molly interrupted, Fred and George sharing glances as Ginny played with her brother's hair.

"Arthur, honestly, you ask that to everyone you ever meet," she frowned before turning to Hermione, "You'll be bunking with Ginny, I hope that's alright?"

"Yeah, sure," she smiled back. Ginny gasped and hopped up, nearly toppling George over.

"We get to have a _sleepover?_" she asked excitedly. "I've never had a sleepover with anyone ever!"

Hermione gave a grin at her, "Neither have I."

"Yay! We'll have fun! D'you want to see my room?" She was practically bouncing with glee, making Hermione grin wider.

"Sure," she said. Ginny beamed even brighter and grabbed her wrist, towing her up the stairs and making Fred and George dash to follow them. Hermione laughed as she was lead up to her room, done in shades of light green and with a window showing the backyard.

"So, you ready for next year?" George asked, slowly walking around his sister's room.

"More or less," she shrugged, "Why, is something exciting supposed to happen?"

"Possibly," Fred grinned as she chuckled. "How's your summer been?"

She sighed, "Boring. I've been reading this and that and everything, but I would think this would be the highlight."

"Of course!" George declared, slinging an arm around her shoulders and tugging her into his side as they both grinned and laughed, "You get to see us again!"

"Of course!" she agreed.

* * *

"Fred Weasley! Oh – hello, Ron," Hermione said, trying very hard not to blush as the younger Weasley boy followed behind her and her friends, looking up at her, as Fred was carrying her on his back as they headed towards the platform. They were just starting their third year, and Ron was beginning his first, so he looked up at Hermione in amusement.

"Is this something I'll have to get used to seeing?" he questioned.

"More than likely," she sighed back before thumping Fred in the back once more. "Put me _down_."

"No," Fred and George chorused, making her growl and causing them to laugh.

"Uhm," a new voice announced, making the group stop and blink at one the boy. He seemed to be about Ron's age, with messy black hair and green eyes framed behind circular glasses, his clothes about three sizes too large and pushing a cart with a trunk and an owl in a cage. "Do you know where Platform Nine and Three Quarters is?"

"Oh, yes, just follow us," Hermione answered with a soft smile, making him blink at her and the twins. "They're prats. Ignore them." He gave a small smile and nodded, following them through the wall and blinking at the large scarlet train as Fred finally set her down on her feet. "What's your name?"

"Harry," he answered.

"I'm Hermione," she smiled brightly at him, offering her hand, "And you, Harry, have just made a friend."

* * *

**I skipped ahead. I'm sorry. But I don't really care. :|**


	6. Unforgiveable

**Got my hair colored and it looks awesome! I could totally pass for a Weasley now! :D**

* * *

Harry looked up from his homework at the comical scene before him. Fred and George each had one of Hermione's legs, pouting up at her with large, shiny eyes, and Lee was clinging onto her back and petting her hair as she hummed, Ron inching closer and closer towards Lee's camera as Hermione took a deep breath and let it out slowly, a deep frown on her face. He grinned a little bit wider – it was a few months into the year, and Hermione was incredibly kind to him, helping him with homework and anything else he was having trouble with. He and Ron were best friends, of course, but Hermione was something different, but it was a very good different. Fred and George were almost constantly at her side, and he never saw one of the two without the other, and he almost always saw them around Hermione.

"Plea - ?" the Weasley twins began.

"No," Hermione interrupted.

"Come on, Hermione," Lee cooed, setting his chin on her shoulder, "It's just a small one, really, hardly anything considered to what we normally do."

"No," she insisted.

"It won't _really_ hurt anyone this time, honestly – no trips to the Hospital Wing required," George continued.

"_No,_" she huffed. Apparently the weight of Lee on her back wasn't as heavy as Harry originally thought.

"I'll get you Sugar Quills at Honeyduke's," Fred bargained.

"N – did you say Sugar Quills?" she blinked down at him as Harry grinned back at Lee, who was shooting him a victorious smile.

"A whole pack of them," Fred grinned up at her as she bit her lower lip before sighing and nodding, the three boys cheering and jumping up – or down, in Lee's case – to hug her.

"You saw nothing," Hermione said, pointing sternly at Harry, who grinned and nodded and meaningfully went back to his book.

Hermione was certainly different. She talked about being picked on often to him, but he never saw it whenever her friends were around. When she found out who he was, she'd blinked and peered at the scar before making a hissing noise. "That's awful." She seemed to be the only person to acknowledge that he'd lost his parents, and he told her about living with the Dursley's, which had made her purse her lips and keep silent for a long time, which worried Harry before she stood and pecked him on top of his head, promising that she would do everything in her power to fix it before going up to the girls' dorms.

Hermione Granger, he'd decided, was a very good friend.

* * *

"Lee Jordan!"

"Uh-oh," he murmured, looking at the curious twins with the same look on his face, "What did I do now?" He turned and was met face-to-face with a very miffed looking Hermione. "Uhm…wotcher, Mia! Err – what's up?"

"Angelina just told me that Katie's crying in the girls' bathroom because of you, now what did you do to her?" she demanded, glaring at him.

He blinked back at her, shock and surprise evident on his face, "Well, that's news to me!"

She blinked back, "You didn't do anything?"

"Not that I can think of, if I did I certainly didn't mean to," he hummed as the twins exchanged glances and grimaces. They had accidentally discovered that young Miss Katie Bell harbored a small crush on their friend Lee, although she didn't know they knew. Apparently she either hadn't told Hermione, or Lee hadn't told Hermione that he'd asked out some girl from Ravenclaw and would be going to Hogsmeade with her. "Is she okay?" he asked worriedly as Hermione bit her lower lip and shook her head.

"I'm going to go check on her," she stated before shooting the three boys grins, "Save me food, yeah?"

"Of course," George grinned, ruffling up her hair as she passed as the three made their way to the Gryffindor table.

"I wonder what's wrong with Katie," Lee hummed as he sat, frowning at his plate before grinning at Harry, who was in the process of getting up enough nerve to poke at a bat on a platter. "It's candy, mate," he interrupted, making him look sheepishly back at him, chuckling at him as Fred and George grimaced at each other once again. "So – first Halloween at Hogwarts, good or bad?"

"Definitely good," Harry grinned back before blinking, "Hey, where's Hermione?"

"Checking up on Katie," Fred answered.

"Where's Katie?"

"Girls' bathroom," George said.

"Why does Hermione need to check up on her there?" Harry questioned.

"Because she's crying," Fred stated.

"Why? Is she alright?"

"Apparently it's because of something I did, but I don't know what I did, so – go figure," Lee sighed before grabbing his fork and stabbing one of the candy bats Harry had been about to poke. The dinner was spent with talking and jokes, and quick glances to the door at the end of the hall for either one or both of the girls.

Towards the end of dinner, the door was opened and Professor Quirrell ran into the room, screaming at the top of his lungs, "TROLL IN THE DUNGEON, TROLL IN THE DUNGEON…" He paused and looked very pale as he looked up at the other Professors, "Just thought you ought to know." And with that, he fainted.

* * *

"I'd rather have the troll now, please," George said quietly, Ron nodding along beside him as Fred, Lee and Harry grimaced.

"You thought it would be a good idea to _fight_ the troll, when you were only five third years and two first years? You have not had adequate training! I should suspend all of you!" McGonagall said, shaking all over as Katie continued to sob into Hermione's shoulder.

"Professor, the boys only came up to get us because we didn't know there was a troll in the castle," Hermione explained, rubbing circles into Katie's back, "If we could've gotten out without the struggle, we would've, but there was no possible way. Believe me, Professor, this was not by choice."

The boys kept their mouths shut – they thought it was pretty cool to take on a mountain troll at thirteen and eleven, respectively.

"Very well," McGonagall said as she released a shaky breath, "Ten points from Gryffindor for reckless behavior…five points to Gryffindor for immeasurable bravery."

"I'm sorry," Fred spoke up, blinking in surprise, "Did I hear five points _to_ Gryffindor?"

"Five points _each_," McGonagall concluded, watching as his, George and Lee's mouths popped open in surprise.

"We only ever get points taken away!" George blinked.

"High-five!" Lee cheered, slapping palms with his friends, offering one out to Katie and Hermione, the latter of whom grimaced as Katie looked up at him. "Hey," he lowered his palm, "Katie, what's wrong?"

She took a few steps away from Hermione and stared at him before punching him rather hard in the bicep, "Lee Jordan, you're an unforgiveable prat!" And with that, she turned on her heel and stormed off to the girls' dormitories, Lee gaping after her before looking curiously towards Hermione.

"It's just a stage, I wouldn't worry about it," Hermione grimaced before humming as an afterthought, "Much."

Lee blinked at her before groaning, "Girls."

Hermione scoffed back at him and crossed her arms over her chest, "Boys."

"And yet, you're friends with five of them," Fred hummed, giving her a cheeky grin when she rolled her eyes.

* * *

**Whoa whoa whoa did I just update this twice in one day? I think I did! Check my fever!**


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